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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. charge — a price
  3. craft — boats
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. craft — a skill
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — in biology
  12. charge — in control
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — a phone
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — for sport
  20. charge — electricity
  21. snap — to click
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tear — from crying
  24. snap — to snap out of it

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com